Lepidoptera--the butterflies and moths--comprise one of the most
diverse orders of
organisms on this planet. About 165,000 species have been named thus
far (1), with
perhaps as many again yet to be named. They are found on all continents
of the
world, from sea-level to high mountains, and in habitats ranging
from the bitter cold
of the Siberian steppes to the humid heat of tropical rainforests.
Most species are
terrestrial but some are largely aquatic, the larvae feeding on waterweeds
and in at
least one instance even the adult female dwelling underwater (2).
Only in truly
marine environments are the lepidoptera virtually absent.

Because of their beautiful and complex wing patterns, lepidoptera
are perhaps the
most familiar of all insects, and their lifecycle is well known.
The ova (eggs) are
usually laid on a plant which the hatching larvae (caterpillars)
utilise as food. After
continuing growth through a number ofmoults, the larva changes into
a pupa (chrysalis). It then rests while its body is reorganised.
The adult moth or butterfly
emerges from the pupal shell, expands its soft crumpled wings and
once it has dried
and hardened, takes to the air to seek a mate and begin the cycle
anew.

Changes necessarily designed

The larva is thus the stage of the life cycle dedicated to eating
and growing, whereas
the adult is the stage dedicated to dispersal and reproduction. The
two stages have
enormously different body plans to facilitate such different functions.
The
pupa is therefore remarkable, as, it "bridges the gap" between
them.
A larva will typically have a strong jawed capsule-like head, three
pairs of true legs
and a series of pseudo-legs, and may be camouflaged through various
colour
patterns and shapes or covered with protective tufts of hairs. All
of these are
lost when the larva changes into a fragile sedentary pupa, usually
enclosed in a
cocoon, whose internal tissues are then largely broken down into
a liquid and
formed anew. This astonishing transformation begs the question: how
could it possibly have evolved? Evolution is supposed to proceed
through tiny incremental mutations over very long periods of time.
But for the larva to transform successfully into an adult, it
must have a huge number of carefully controlled changes programmed
into its genes and activated at the right time all in one generation.
What advantage would it be for a larva to have evolved the ability
to change into a pupa, but nothing further? Or for the pupa to have
evolved the ability to break down its body into a "soup" but
not have the genes to direct the formation of the adult? And how
could it have hit upon such an extraordinarily different adult body
plan by sheer chance? No, this highly complex array of changes and
the genetic information that directs it speaks of deliberate design.

Nothing works unless everything works

The lepidoptera show many examples of ingenious design. Take the
case of Cerura vinula, the puss moth, so called on account of its
thick white scaling reminiscent of a
cat's fur. Before the larva changes into a pupa it chews up fragments
of bark and
mixes them with silk to form an extremely hard, tough and well camouflaged
cocoon.
But it makes one end of the cocoon thinner than the other. Once it
becomes a pupa
inside the cocoon, its head bears a strong keel-like device. When
the moth is ready
to emerge from inside the pupal shell, this device is thrust against
the thinner end of
the cocoon to rupture it. The moth then emerges from the pupal shell
and spits out
a fluid which softens the weakened cocoon enough to permit it to
escape (3). The
abilities of the larva, pupa and adult--each of which is controlled
by different sets of
genes - thus work in unison to achieve an end that is vital to the
continuation of the
life-cycle. There is no time for millions of'years of supposed evolution:
the puss moth
must have all these faculties fully developed and available within
one generation in order to survive.

Engineering skills

The larvae of many species of lepidoptera have an amazing ability
to modify their
immediate environment: they roll up a leaf of their food plant to
form a tube and feed
from within it, concealed from the view of predators. Within the
tube the microclimate
is not only more suitable for the larva, but the great reduction
of light may impede the leaf cells from producing substances that
are unpalatable to it (4). But how does a tiny larva manipulate a
leaf hundreds of times larger than itself? It is roughly equivalent
to a human manoeuvring a 100ft-long object weighing nearly 11 tons!
The larva of Caloptilia serotinella, the cherry leaf roller moth,
does so utilising the special properties of the silk it spins. Starting
near the tip of a cherry leaf, it lays down hundreds of short lengths
of silk, stretching each slightly as it does so. The elastic properties
of these many lengths generate a combined force far greater than
the larva alone could ever achieve. Furthermore, the larva periodically
nibbles part of the midrib of the leaf, weakening it and facilitating
the rolling process. The result obtained by the larva thus depends
upon the combined action of a number of factors: the silk must have
particular elastic properties; the process must be started from a
particular point; the silk strands must be laid in a particular way
so that they work in unison and not in competition; and the leaf
must be weakened at particular points to uqrist the procesa. rhis
process bears the hallmarks of a careful plan with a beneficial endpoint
in view. but haw could an unintelligent larva possibly have developed
it or have comprehended the endpoint?

Moth-eaten treasures

Not all Icpidoptera larvae feed on green plants. The family Tineidae
includes the
socalled clothes moths, such as Tinea hc//ionella and Tineola bisselliella.
These
species specialize in feeding upon soiled substances formed from
keratin, such as
wool, fur, hair, skin and horn. In order to digest these substances,
the larvae have
enzymes that can break down the crosslinked polypeptide of keratin.
These enzymes are not known to occur in the larvae of other families
of lepidoptera, so how is it that these Tineidae do have them and
how did they arise? An enzyme is an example of an irreducibly complex
mechanism. It is highly specific in its chemical shape and action;
a part-enzyme will not work and can confer no benefit on the larva.
For the larva to feed on keratin successfully, it would have had
to acquire the genes responsible for the manufacture of a complex,
fully-formed enzyme all at once.

Killer caterpillars

The larva of the Australian butterfly Liphyra brassolis has an equally
specialized diet: it feeds on the grubs of the green tree-ant, Oecophylla
smaragdina. It is, however, an extremely unwelcome intruder in the
nest of these ferocious ants, and for it to survive to complete its
lifecycle it has to have some extraordinary defences against them.
The larva is very flat and is armoured with a hard, tough, oval outer
shell (5, 6). Unlike most lepidoptera, when the larva pupates it
does not shed its larval skin; instead it pupates within it in order
to retain the protective shell. When the butterfly emerges, it is
covered with a dense layer of loose white scales which protect it
from being damaged by the ants while it makes its way out of the
nest. Any remaining scales are lost during flight. It is clear that
these defences must all be in place, fully formed, for the butterfly
to survive at all.

Icon of Evolution Theory

In the past, evolutionists have attempted to use the peppered moth,
Biston betularia, as
an example of evolution in action. The peppered moth is typically
white with a few dark lines and a sprinkling of dark dots, but occasionally
partially or wholly black forms occur. The black forms became much
more frequent for a period in some areas in the UK where industrial
pollution was blackening the tree trunks. It was claimed that the
moths normally rest on tree trunks, where birds could easily spot
the typical form against the dark background, whereas the black form
had a selective advantage. In contrast, on unpolluted tree trunks
the typical form would be well camouflaged against pale lichens and
the black form would show up conspicuously. More recent studies have,
however, shown this to be merely an alluring fable. For a start,
the peppered moth does not normally rest on tree trunks. Furthermore,
in the USA a change in the
frequency of the different forms occurred in the - absence of perceptible
changes in
the local lichen floras (7). The changes in frequency of the forms
of the moth appear
instead to be correlated with changes in concentrations of atmospheric
sulphur
dioxide. To this day the peppered moth remains the peppered moth,
capable of a degree of variation to cope with different environments,
but still just a single species,
biston betularia.

Moth proof treasures

It
may come as a surprise to to learn that lepidoptera are mentioned
in the
Bible. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, taught his followers, "Do
not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and
Caterpillars steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break
in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also" Matt 6:19-21. The egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to,
butterfly to egg cycle, with the irreducible complexities of its
bio-molecules,, could not evolve gradually. Everything about it from
genes and gene switches to forms and behaviour shout design.